General Motors hopes to break free of Treasury

According to a piece in this morning’s Wall Street Journal, the U.S. Treasury‘s welcome at General Motors is wearing thin. GM is reportedly pushing for the government to sell most or all of its remaining stake — currently about a quarter of the company. But the Obama administration seems to be in no hurry to exit.

For General Motors, there are two main concerns. For one, there is the stigma attached to the nickname “Government Motors,” and there’s a feeling that because the government bailed the company out, people might not want to do business with them.

Dave Sullivan, an analyst with Auto Pacific, think that might be an overblown problem. “It’s still a: Do I want to buy an American car? feeling on the coasts,” he says, “whereas when you go further into the country, you get that more political riff of ‘Government Motors.'”

Another problem GM faces is the restrictions on compensation, which could be hurting them in acquiring new talent and staying competitive across the industry.